Cosmetic dentistry

[Member869894]

Hi . I have decided I would like to improve the look of my yellow crooked teeth. I would go abroad if necessary but want to do my research first . Can anyone suggest where.i start and what qualifications, professional standards I should be looking please?

I would look at getting good orthodontic treatment in the UK and getting your teeth whitened. It doesn’t give the instant, perfect smile that veneers do, but there are so many dodgy dentists about - not just abroad but in the UK - who will upsell, rinse you for thousands of pounds and give you quick results with no thought to your actual dental health or mention of the financial commitment needed to upkeep veneers into old age.

Just to add, I did this about 10 years ago. Invisalign wouldn’t have been enough for me, as I had overcrowding that needed a tooth removed and then got proper ‘railway track’ braces in my 30s.

It was a commitment and took about 18 months, but it massively improved my teeth. I then got them whitened and do it every year in Spring. I have better teeth in my 40s than I did as a young woman. Totally worth it.

My friend got veneers around the same time from a reputable Harley St dentist and has had nothing but issues with then. She has just spent another £5k trying to sort them out. She bitterly regrets them.

They can really do a lot with composite bonding and whitening now, and you end up with really natural looking teeth. You might need some orthodontic treatment too. Avoid crowns if at all possible, very expensive to get veneers but they are much better as they only remove a very small amount of the surface of the tooth. Composite bonding is even better though! I had some done and I honestly can't tell the difference between the tooth and the composite. It's strong as well. I was missing half a tooth and so half the tooth is composite, and it is like I never lost the tooth (injury) I was worried I would need an implant but the cost of the composite was about a fifth of that, and I am so happy. I could do with them being whitened next and long term would love some orthodontic work to get my teeth straighter, but the composure bonding means that I don't need to do anything until I can afford to do more, and I can smile again.